Point Pelee, Crane Creek & the Kirtland's Warbler May 09—17, 2011
Posted by Steve Hilty
Steve Hilty
Steve Hilty is the senior author of A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, and the recently published Birds of Venezuela, both by Princeton University Press. Other credits inclu...Related Trips
After a lapse of many years I was pleased to have the opportunity to lead a full tour of this region again. There were, however, some surprises, because over the years the itinerary has changed (for the better) and now includes the interesting Crane Creek/Magee Marsh area—the Lake Erie south shore counterpart to Point Pelee, fewer days at Pelee, and a final extra day in the Grayling (or Detroit) area as a backup in case weather conditions do not permit viewing of the Kirtland's Warbler on the first day.
The weather was delightful during our visits to Pelee and the Crane Creek area, but turned decidedly unpleasant during the last three days of the trip in the Detroit and Grayling area with intermittent rain, unseasonably cold temperatures (into the 30s at night and rising barely above 40 during the day), and strong winds. Nevertheless, we observed one Kirtland's Warbler in the scope and later obtained excellent and extended views of a second Kirtland's Warbler foraging on the ground at point-blank range despite (or because of) unseasonably cold and windy conditions. As a consequence, we used our last day to visit or revisit several areas in the Saginaw Bay and Detroit areas, as well as an area west of Ann Arbor—areas mostly new to me and involving some distinct navigational challenges.
Pelee itself is a phenomenon of birds and birders that everyone (if you are a birder) ought to witness at least once in their lifetime. Some might argue that it should be experienced every spring, and occasionally in the fall as well. Less well-known, perhaps, but rapidly gaining in popularity, is its counterpart on the south shore of Lake Erie, the Crane Creek/Magee area. A pity, perhaps, that it isn't larger because we experienced a truly remarkable day there—warblers in astonishing abundance and mostly quite low and easy to see. Alas, however, the Magee Marsh Boardwalk, which winds lazily through a pleasant seven-acre tract of woodland, now has its own army of birder devotees which, by late morning, were almost as numerous as the birds. Wonderful, of course, because so many people come to enjoy the spring warbler migration, but perhaps now threatening to overtax the limited facilities.
For our smallish group, trip highlights revolved around (1) the Kirtland's Warbler itself (we couldn't have had a better viewing of it), (2) the amazing spectacle of warblers at the Magee Marsh Boardwalk on the day of our visit (apparently one of the best days of the week), (3) several good days and one truly spectacular day at Pelee with warblers arriving throughout the morning hours and, (4) at least for some of us, a highlight was the opportunity to observe an ermine (not a long-tailed weasel: see mammal list) at length and close up as it repeatedly returned to raid an eastern chipmunk's nest and carry away the young chipmunks (one at a time) to its own nest burrow (or complex of burrows) which was about 30 to 40 yards away in open forest. While such a scene may seem shocking to some, it is, in fact, real life drama played out millions of times daily throughout the natural world. An event such as this is something rarely observed by those of us in the modern world who are now largely sheltered from the dynamics of the natural world.